Two-Scale Topology Optimization with Microstructures

Two-Scale Topology Optimization with Microstructures

Bo Zhu, Melina Skouras, Desai Chen, Wojciech Matusik

ACM Transactions on Graphics (to be presented at SIGGRAPH 2017)

Abstract

In this paper we present a novel two-scale framework to optimize the structure and the material distribution of an object given its functional specifications. Our approach utilizes multi-material microstructures as low-level building blocks of the object. We start by precomputing the material property gamut – the set of bulk material properties that can be achieved with all material microstructures of a given size. We represent the boundary of this material property gamut using a level set field. Next, we propose an efficient and general topology optimization algorithm that simultaneously computes an optimal object topology and spatially-varying material properties constrained by the precomputed gamut. Finally, we map the optimal spatially-varying material properties onto the microstructures with the corresponding properties in order to generate a high-resolution printable structure. We demonstrate the efficacy of our framework by designing, optimizing, and fabricating objects in different material property spaces on the level of a trillion voxels, i.e several orders of magnitude higher than what can be achieved with current systems.

Acknowledgement

This research is supported in part by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific (SSC Pacific) under Contract No 66001-15-C-4030.